St. Benedict of Palermo, Black America’s Patron Saint, Ascetic Healer, Humble Teacher

By Dannie Gore, Sr. 

The Italian black Catholic saint’s name was Benedict, of Palermo, Sicily, and he was the son of African slaves. In life, Benedict was an ascetic healer who devoted his life to the humble teachings of St. Francis, in death, he was used by the Church and colonial European powers to convert African slaves to Roman Catholicism. But he was genuinely adored as a grassroots saint who also inspired black identity and pride.

While he was not the first black saint in church history, he was the first to pass through the gauntlet of canonization after authority over the process passed exclusively to the pope in Rome. Although he never set foot in America, he is often referred to as the patron saint of African Americans.